Illness

Consort Yuan's eyes widened at the words of the Empress Dowager but before she could plead for mercy, the Empress dowager ordered the eunuchs to drag her away. And with a wave of her hand, the Empress Dowager signaled for the audience to disperse, saying that she was tired.

Since the Empress Dowager had already said this, Imperial Noble Consort Xi and Jiang Yunyao wouldn't shamelessly stay. They all made to leave Shoukang Palace.

Upon leaving, Jiang Yunyao thought that Imperial Noble Consort Xi would be satisfied. But unexpectedly, Imperial Noble Consort Xi's face darkened by a few shades the moment she stepped out of the Shoukang Palace.

From Shoukang Palace to Cun Shan Palace, the Imperial Noble Consort had a cold look on her face and did not utter a single word along the way.

Finally, the duo parted at the gate of Cun Shan palace with Imperial Noble Consort Xi going to the main courtyard of Cun Shan palace which is called Golden Jade courtyard and Jiang Yunyao returned to the Willow courtyard.

Once she entered her own abode, Jiang Yunyao became completely relaxed. She leisurely sprawled on the chair munching on some fruits and spent the rest of the day making up for the lack of sleep of the previous night.

When night fell, just as Jiang Yunyao finished eating her meal and was about to go back to sleep, the people from the Emperor's Qianqing Palace came.

The one who personally led the group into Cun Shan Palace today was Li Jin, the head eunuch of the Qianqing Palace.

When Jiang Yu Heng saw Li Jin, she immediately went out to greet him.

When Li Jin saw Jiang Yu Heng, he immediately walked up with a smile and said, "Where is Noble Lady Hai? His Majesty bestowed gifts to her. Tell Noble Lady Hai to come and receive them immediately."

Hearing this, Jiang Yu Heng immediately rushed inside to inform Jiang Yunyao.

But as she turned around she saw that Jiang Yunyao has already arrived.

Jiang Yunyao stepped into the main hall of Willow Courtyard and saw all the boxes of various sizes piled up there and became very confused.

The Emperor sent gifts to her but he did not flip her plaque. This was not very normal.

She saw Li Jin greeting her and politely asked him to convey her thanks to the Emperor without any arrogance. She even signalled her maids to reward Li Jin.

Jiang Yu Heng understood her signal and took out a small pouch and stuffed it into Li Jin's hands without even giving him a chance to refuse. Her manner greatly pleased Li Jin.

As she watched the retreating back of Li Jin, Jiang Yunyao said to He Shiyi, "Shiyi, go and find out whose plaque His Majesty flipped tonight."

He Shiyi complied and left immediately to ask around. Of course the person she asks would be her elder brother He Yang who is the head eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.

He Shiyi only returned after about an incense stick of time passed.

She replied to Jiang Yunyao, "Your Highness, this Servant has enquired about the situation and found out that His Majesty has flipped no plaque today."

Jiang Yu Heng was utterly dumbfounded by those words and the first thought that came to her mind was that the Emperor was sick but Jiang Yunyao was very calm and just sat in her seat without any movement as if waiting for He Shiyi to continue.

He Shiyi carefully observed Jiang Yunyao's expression and seeing that she was still calm and behaved normally, she still continued after a moment of hesitation. "It's the Fifth Prince. He suddenly developed high fever in the afternoon. It is said that when His Majesty found out about this, he rushed to Jingyang palace without even finishing his afternoon meal and has been watching over the Fifth Prince since then."

Jiang Yunyao who was laying on the couch merely nodded her head and dismissed her expressionlessly with a wave of her hand. She did not even ask why the Fifth Prince suddenly had a fever.

After He Shiyi left, Jiang Yu Heng could not help but grumble, "No matter how many princes His Majesty has, the main wife's son is still the most important."

Jiang Yunyao just smiled and went to sleep without saying anything.

***

Deep into the night, Jingyang palace's Golden Phoenix courtyard was still brightly lit.

All the Imperial Physicians of the Imperial Medical Court were currently in Golden Phoenix courtyard to treat the Fifth Prince.

From afternoon till midnight, they continued to treat the Fifth Prince but his fever never went down making the Empress anxious to the point of tears.

The three year old Fifth Prince quietly lay on the bed with his eyes tightly closed while sweating profusely. The sweat drops on his body even made his clothes damp and sticky.

The Emperor was so angry that he already smashed several tea cups and also severely scolded the Imperial Physicians for their incompetence.

Seeing that the Imperial Physicians were all scared because of the Emperor's anger, the Empress Dowager finally could not help but order the Emperor to leave.

Even though the Emperor was reluctant to leave, he also knew that his mother was right that the Imperial Physicians would not be able to concentrate on treating his son if he stayed there and he also had to attend morning court tomorrow so he returned to his Qianqing Palace.

Soon after that, the Empress Dowager also left as she was already old and staying up late would harm her health leaving only the Empress in there.

After both the Emperor and Empress Dowager left, the Empress was unable to bear it any longer and anxiously questioned the head Imperial Physician of the Imperial Medical Court. "Imperial Physician Zou, what exactly is wrong with Jinye? Why isn't his fever going down and why is he still unconscious?"

The head Imperial Physician, Imperial Physician Zou was also equally anxious about the Fifth Prince's situation. He had already fed several doses of fever deducing medicine to the Fifth Prince but neither the fever went down nor the prince woke up.

He could not even feed anymore medicine to the Fifth Prince because he was afraid that the Prince would not be able to digest all the medicine as the Fifth Prince was only a three year old child and his body is weak to begin with.

He was already at his wits end and could only stall for time and pray to the heavens to let the Fifth Prince wake up sooner.

Hearing the Empress's questions, Imperial Physician Zou respectfully bowed and replied, "Replying to the Empress, the Fifth Prince is naturally weak. In addition to that, he also got a chill which developed into a fever. Because of his weak constitution, the Prince's body was unable to bear it and succumbed to the illness resulting in the Prince being unable to wake up."

"Can you cure him? Imperial Physician Rou, you must cure Jinye." Said the Empress, her voice choking with sobs.

Imperial Physician Rou said, "Your Majesty the Empress, I believe that the Fifth Prince's illness stemmed down from his weakness. The Fifth Prince has a weak constitution and it is easy for him to fall sick. Each time the temperature changes from cold to hot and hot to cold, his body will be affected by colds, chills and fevers. Your Majesty, this time I can preserve Fifth Prince's life. But if he constantly succumbs to illnesses, then his weak body will be unable to digest the medicines which will eventually lead to his…."

Imperial Physician Rou was about to say the word 'Death' but he stopped himself in time.

But his words left the Empress's heart hanging on a thin thread. She angrily glared at Imperial Physician Rou with tears in her eyes and said, "Lead to his what, Imperial Physician Rou?"

Imperial Physician Rou did not dare to answer the question. If he said that it would lead to the death of the Fifth Prince, it will seem like he was cursing the Fifth Prince which might even make him lose his head.

Imperial Physician Rou could only tactically answer the question "If the Fifth Prince can be raised properly, then he can maintain good health. He must not overexert himself and also cannot do strenuous tasks. Your Majesty, you must be extremely cautious in raising the Fifth Prince."

Imperial Physician Rou's words were like a hammer hitting the Empress's heart, causing her extreme pain and despair. She felt her head hurt, ears buzzing and she also felt like she was about to faint.

At that time, her only thought was, 'Jinye must not overexert himself. He also must not do strenuous activities. Then how will he practice horse riding and martial arts? How will my son succeed His Majesty? How?'

As the Empress was worrying about this she spent the whole night by the Fifth Prince's without any sleep, constantly worrying and weeping for her son with no sleep.

On the other hand, the Emperor who was in Qianqing Palace also had trouble sleeping because of the worry for his son so he simply went to kneel in front of the buddha statue in Qianqing Palace silently praying for the wellbeing of the Fifth prince.

While some were unable to sleep out of worry for their son, some others were unable to sleep because of the happiness and excitement.